Tang Yan Yi was so shocked that she fell into her chair, her eyes wide open, staring intently at the pale, thin little boy on the screen.
He wore a crisp white shirt, fastidiously buttoned all the way up. Every line of the collar was perfectly straight, ticulous in every detail.
Below, he wore similarly white suit shorts, connected to the shirt by black suit suspenders at the waist.
On his calves, he wore knee-length white cotton socks, not commonly seen on little boys of that era, paired with shiny little black leather shoes.
Born an elegant, upright little gentleman. His current deanor and image were quite consistent with it.
Yet... the thing supporting his body wasn’t his own legs, but a pair of crutches wedged under his arms.
Next, there were photos of him using equipnt in the rehabilitation room. His forehead was covered with sweat, and his hair was wet with it, yet his face was expressionless—or perhaps the lack of expression itself was an expression, an extraordinary calmness and resilience beyond his years.
The last photo was taken through a gap in the curtain. The little boy in the photo suddenly looked up in the direction of the cara. From the angle of his lifted gaze, it was clear that he was just a fraction away from spotting the cara. But the shutter clicked first, freezing the mont before he fully aligned his gaze, so in the photo’s captured mont, he hadn’t seen the photographer yet.
Even so, the photo still left an imnse suspense, making one’s hair stand on end—because the suspense is, in the split second after the shutter clicked, did the boy in the fra discover the photographer?
"He’s Huangfu Huazhang? How can he be like this?" Tang Yan Yi could hardly believe what her eyes were seeing.
The little boy in the photo was indeed undoubtedly Huangfu Huazhang, with that clear and cold disposition that was the sa even today.
Only, how could he be so thin and pale? It was different from his current pallor, which was almost a pathological paleness.
Guan Liang then brought up several dical records from various institutions, both from the mainland and Hong Kong; so were public hospitals, others were private specialized clinics. In those machine-printed or handwritten dical records, there was the recurrent term "post-poliomyelitis syndro."
Tang Yan Yi’s mouth fell open in surprise: "He actually suffered from polio, and it seems he’s rehabilitated for many years, and even at a big age, he still couldn’t walk?"
Guan Liang gazed at Tang Yan Yi’s shock with a small sense of satisfaction. When he first saw this information, he too had been utterly startled.
Tang Yan Yi had heavy suspicions about Huangfu Huazhang, she even associated the case at Kangchuan University with him. But because there was no direct evidence, she kept it to herself. To get him to help her find related clues, she had only ever expressed her suspicions to him.
So it could be said that the gradually unveiled secret of Huangfu Huazhang, under the peeling away layer by layer, was a secret that only he and Tang Yan Yi shared.
He then smiled quietly: "So, are these materials juicy enough?" He turned his chair around to gaze at her: "Aren’t they... enough to make you smile?"
Tang Yan Yi glanced at him sideways in amazent, then frowned and turned her face away. Her cheeks were slightly red, but her eyes remained clear and sharp.
Guan Liang let out a silent sigh of disappointnt, reeling in his smile, and turned back to continue staring at the screen.
Perhaps the only thing he could do now was to help her find more clues about Huangfu Huazhang, to help her untangle this knot in her heart. As for anything else, for now, given his presence in her heart, the ti wasn’t right.
"The exact ti Huangfu Huazhang contracted the illness can’t be traced; back then, hospitals in mainland China hadn’t fully adopted computers yet, so so records were still handwritten and not entered into the systems. However, based on the main onset age of polio, it can be inferred that Huangfu Huazhang likely fell ill between the ages of 1 to 6. This age sounds young, as if it wouldn’t affect a person’s life significantly, but if scrutinized, the onset ti may have a huge impact on the developnt of his personality."
"At 1 to 6 years old, we can divide this into two periods, using age 3 as a dividing line. If he fell ill before age 3, it might affect his physical developnt, like normal standing and walking functions. However, if he fell ill between ages 3 to 5, it could impact the developnt of his social personality, as this period is precisely when one starts attending kindergarten, preschool, and even elentary school. If he beca ill during this period, he could have missed out on one, or even all, of these educational opportunities."
Guan Liang then swiftly checked Huangfu Huazhang’s academic records at each educational stage. As each screen popped up, he drew a deep sigh: "Xiao Yi, can you imagine it? He never attended kindergarten, preschool, nor even elentary school!"
"And during university, he also had a year-and-a-half break from studies... with such a fragnted educational experience, he still managed to obtain two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. at the age of 27! My heavens, even with normal schooling, one would only have a master’s degree at 27, so how did he manage it?"
Tang Yan Yi wasn’t swayed by the three degrees, but squinted her eyes and asked: "Are you saying that it’s possible he spent his ti before age 13, troubled by post-polio syndro, all alone at ho. Without schooling, no classmates, no experience of interacting with peers of the sa age?"
Guan Liang nodded: "It seems so."
Tang Yan Yi stood up, staring at the young boy in the photos. The boy, whose every line of his body was straight and elegant, but showed a restraint and calmness beyond his age. His tightly pursed lips and the expressionless look revealed a kind of aloofness and determination, as if shutting people out.
However, on the flip side, it was actually a depiction of loneliness. He had no opportunity to mingle with the crowd, no chance to make friends with kids his own age, which made him mature early and have such a distant expression.
Tang Yan Yi slowly nodded, "Yes, that’s certainly the case."
It’s hard to imagine how lonely and desperate the heart of a young boy, who had always lived alone in a lonely world during his early childhood, childhood, and even early adolescence.
Tang Yan Yi gently closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself as the young Huangfu Huazhang, sitting alone by the window, watching other kids his age running freely under the blue sky, shouting joyfully. While he was trapped by his own legs, perhaps also by his pride, forever confined in a box-like house, separated from the outside world by a window.
"Does that an that he was not accepted by the Ford family before, not only because he was an illegitimate child, but is largely due to his own circumstances?"
"It certainly is," Guan Liang couldn’t help but sigh, "No family would want their heir to be in such a situation, let alone the Ford family, a family with a noble background, not allowing a little boy who cannot stand or walk properly to represent the pride of their family."
Tang Yan Yi said nothing, just enlarged the photo again, keeping her eyes fixed on the teenager’s cold and sharp eyes.
"Guan Liang, if you were Huangfu Huazhang at that ti, what would your mindset be? Would you resign to your undefeatable illness?"
Guan Liang thought for a mont, "At first, maybe you wouldn’t resign, but after all, he was still a child. In those days, the after-effects of polio in children couldn’t be understood, so what good would denial do?"
Tang Yan Yi shook her head, "If it were , I wouldn’t resign; I would resist. I might even grow to hate the family that refuses to acknowledge and accept . For if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been born into this world, wouldn’t have suffered such pain; therefore, they have no right to abandon or ignore . All the pain I endure today was brought by them. If I had the chance, I would definitely make them taste this pain themselves."
Guan Liang looked at Tang Yan Yi in surprise, eyes wide open.
Tang Yan Yi turned to him, her expression cold and aloof, "Did I scare you? But I, Tang Yan Yi, am such a person, not the kind of girl you imagine."
After speaking, Tang Yan Yi turned and walked out of the computer room.
.
Shi Nian walked into Huangfu Huazhang’s house with him.
The castle built on the mountain still carried a European dieval aura, making an entrance feel like traversing through ti, back to the era of aristocrats and knights.
Indeed, before coming, Shi Nian had imagined the appearance of the Ford family, largely conceiving the luxury and nobility befitting their status. But when she truly saw it with her eyes, she was genuinely startled.
Two n wearing crisp uniforms bowed at the door, opening the large gates left and right. Huangfu Huazhang suddenly paused, half-turning to look back at her, "Are you alright?"
Shi Nian gave an awkward smile, "I’m okay."
Huangfu Huazhang gentlemanly extended his arm toward her, Shi Nian hurriedly stepped forward to clasp his arm. With his support, the feeling of floating dissipated substantially, finally grounded on earth rather than stepping on clouds.
He smiled slightly, looking at her, "How do you manage it?"
Shi Nian blinked and smiled, pointing at the two n opening the doors, "I just pretend they are hotel porters, pretend your castle is just a European dieval-thed hotel."
Huangfu Huazhang seed a bit taken aback, raising his eyebrows, "Then what about , what role should I play?"
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[Second update of the morning~]
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